Second Chances
by NZGirl25
Summary: Having to walk away from her family broke Charlie's heart. Now four years later she returns. How will the residents of Summer Bay cope when they see a ghost from the past, especially Darryl Braxton?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey readers, here's my new story Second Chances, or Inevitable Redone. I hope you like it.**

* * *

Walking away from her family was the hardest thing that Charlie Buckton had ever done, but as four years passed, she found herself back in Summer Bay. Everyone had thought that she had died, her colleagues had planned it so well.

The truth was, Charlie was wearing a bullet-proof vest the day of the shooting at the instruction of Inspector Joyce, who knew that Charlie's life would be in danger after Jake Pirovic, Charlie's assailant, was released from jail.

Charlie's life wasn't the only life that the bulletproof vest had saved. The truth was, Charlie was pregnant, and her baby had survived. Charlie looked over at her four year old daughter, who was fast asleep in her bed. Annaliese Maria Buckton-Braxton had been the one constant reminder Charlie had of Brax and Charlie felt pangs of regret every time she looked at her daughter and saw Brax in her. She regretted the fact that Brax didn't see his daughter grow up, he never would see her first steps, her first words, the first time that Annaliese slept in a proper 'big girl' bed. Charlie would hold those regrets for the rest of her life.

Hearing Annaliese stir in her bed, Charlie took in a deep breath, as soon as the four year old woke they were going out and seeing the people of Summer Bay, Charlie could feel the nervousness but she tried to push it down. She prayed they didn't hate her after she faked her own death. She didn't have a choice, she never thought in a million years that she would be shot and torn away from her family in an instant. Annaliese and the distant dream that she could see her family again one day was the only thing that kept Charlie going.

She fought to come back to the Bay, Joyce didn't think it was safe since acquaintances of Jake's were still out there and would finish the job off if they could since their beloved leader was in jail.

"Mummy?" Annaliese asked as she sat up in bed and rubbed at her eyes.

"Good morning honey," Charlie said as she made her way over to her daughter's bed and gave her a hug. "Did you have a good sleep?"

Annaliese nodded. "Yeah. Can we go out today?"

"Yeah sweetie, anything you want." Charlie said gently. She knew that she would have to face everyone eventually, it was no use prolonging it.

"Can we go now?" Annaliese asked hopefully and Charlie tried to keep back a laugh.

"No Anna, you have to get ready and have breakfast."

"Who are we going to meet Mummy?" Annaliese asked.

"Some very special people that mummy used to know, okay?" Charlie answered. It was hard to keep up with Annaliese sometimes, it seemed like she was full of questions.

^..^

When Annaliese finished her breakfast she was just about bursting with excitement.

"Can we go? Can we mummy, can we?"

Charlie couldn't help but smile at her daughter's excitement. "Okay baby."

"Yay!" Annaliese exclaimed happily as she ran off to put her shoes on.

^..^

Walking into the diner, Charlie couldn't help but shake as she took in the familiar surroundings.

"Heya, what can I get yo-" A look of realisation dawned on Irene's face as she carefully studied Charlie's face. "Charlie Buckton? Is that you? How? What?" Charlie could see the look of shock on Irene's face and she honestly wasn't surprised.

"Oh my god." Charlie whirled around and her heart broke into a million pieces as she stared at her daughter, her first daughter.

"Rubes-" Charlie tried to say but it was too late, Ruby had fled the diner.

"Darl, how are you here? We all thought you died." Irene said as Charlie sank into a chair, Annaliese climbing into the chair next to her.

"I know. I was under Witness Protection for the last four years."

"Darl, I'm sorry. That must've been so hard." Irene said sympathetically.

"Mummy, who was that girl?"

Charlie glanced at Irene, who had another look of shock on her face. Muttering something about getting Charlie a coffee, she headed into the kitchen.

"Honey, that girl, she's your sister."

"My sister?" Annaliese asked. "I have a sister?"

"Yeah, you do. Her name is Ruby."

"Why did she run away?" Annaliese asked just as Irene returned with a coffee for Charlie and a chocolate milkshake for Annaliese.

"Thanks Irene, how much do I owe you?" Charlie asked as she reached into her bag for her wallet.

"Don't worry about it Charlie, it's on me."

"Are you sure?" Charlie asked. "I can pay."

"No arguments girlie. So, are you gonna introduce me?" Irene asked.

Charlie blushed. "This is my daughter Annaliese."

"Annaliese is such a pretty name" Irene told the little girl who gave her a grin, a grin Irene recognized. After all it ran in a family. "Is she his daughter?" Irene avoided saying Brax's name but Charlie knew who she was talking about.

"Yeah she is." Charlie answered as she looked at her little girl who was happily slurping away at her milkshake.

"Charlie, I've got to ask, how did you survive?" Irene asked as she sat down in a chair.

"I was wearing a bulletproof vest the day I was shot." Charlie answered.

"So why did you leave?" Irene asked in shock. "You were okay."

"My superiors thought that it would be too dangerous if Jake found out that I survived and he would've kept targeting me and maybe even Brax and Ruby." Charlie answered.

"Have you seen Brax yet?" Irene asked.

"Mummy, who's Brax?"

"Remember all the talks we had about Daddy?" Charlie asked her daughter.

"I'm gonna get to meet my Daddy?" Annaliese asked.

"She's never met Brax?" Irene asked. "Does he even know you were pregnant?"

"I found out after I went into Witness Protection."

^..^

Ruby ran down the beach.

"Dad!" She yelled.

Brax was just making his way out of the surf when he heard Ruby's yell. Ruby ran up to him, panting.

"Rubes, what's going on?"

"Charlie."

* * *

**Let me know in a review what you thought :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for all the reviews so far!**

* * *

Brax looked at Ruby, a look of confusion on his face. "What are you going on about?"

"S-S-She's not dead." Ruby stammered.

Brax froze, letting go of his surfboard. "What did you just say?"

"I just saw her in the diner. Dad, she's not dead!" Ruby exclaimed, throwing herself into Brax's arms, not caring that he was still dripping wet from the ocean.

"How is that even possible?" Brax asked. He was feeling numb, Charlie was alive. But how? He watched her die, he watched the life drain out of her. How was that all a lie?

"I don't know."

^..^

"Mummy, can we go down to the beach?" Annaliese asked as she slurped the rest of her milkshake.

"Yeah, just let me finish my coffee, okay?" Charlie asked.

"Okay, hurry up Mummy!"

Charlie couldn't help but smile at her daughter's excitement. Annaliese never got to go to the beach, they never lived near one when they were in Witness Protection.

Annaliese got off her chair and tugged at Charlie's hand. "Come on Mummy!"

"Baby, I haven't finished my coffee yet." Charlie laughed just as a familiar face walked through the diner doors.

"Charlie, is that you?"

"Casey," Charlie breathed out as she looked him up and down. "I can't believe it's you."

"I don't believe it," Casey said as he sat down in a chair at their table. "How?"

Charlie sighed as she felt something tug at her sleeve.

"Mummy, who's that?"

"Oh my god," Casey gasped, looking down at Annaliese. "Is she?"

Charlie nodded. Casey got up and walked out of the diner.

"Casey!" Charlie called out but it was too late, Casey had already disappeared. Charlie slumped down in her chair, her head in her hands.

"Why did he run away?" Annaliese inquired.

Charlie sighed. "Baby…."

"Tell me." Annaliese said.

"It's hard for me to talk about." Charlie murmured.

"Okay! Can we go down to the beach now?" Anna asked.

Charlie nodded. "Okay baby, you win."

^..^

"Mummy! Look at the water!" Anna shouted as she ran down the beach towards the water.

Charlie stared out at the water. Being on the beach had brought back so many memories.

"Anna, if you're gonna go into the water, stay by the shore okay?" Charlie called as the young girl ripped off her shorts and top, revealing her togs.

"Okay!" Came the response. Charlie walked further down the shore to keep a better eye on Annaliese as she played in the water. She smiled, she knew that Annaliese would love the water just as much as her dad. Charlie sighed, she knew that she would have to face Brax soon.

Charlie was scared, very scared. She wanted to see Brax, it had been four years. However, she knew that Brax would be mad, and rightly so.

And what about Ruby? Charlie asked herself. Her oldest daughter had fled from the diner when she saw Charlie. She wouldn't be surprised if anyone she was close to in the Bay would never want to speak to her again.

She didn't know what she was doing back in the Bay. She wanted to come back, Summer Bay was her home and she wanted Annaliese to know her Dad but maybe it was too late. Maybe it was too late for forgiveness. After all, her family thought she was dead. The love of her life thought she was dead. Her own daughter thought she was dead. And what for? Charlie knew that Witness Protection was a mistake, once Jake was behind bars there was nothing he could do. Sure, he had accomplices outside of prison and that had compromised Charlie's safety, but was that safety worth the fact that Charlie would be hated when people found out she wasn't dead? She had to fight to come back to the Bay, Inspector Joyce hadn't thought that it was a good idea, but Charlie insisted. Now she wasn't so sure.

"How?"

Charlie whirled around and froze when she saw who it was. "Brax?" She questioned as her eyes ran over every familiar inch of his body, she saw everything she had missed over the last four years. His cheeky smile, the way he made her feel, the way he looked at her. Everything.

"How?" Brax questioned again. "How are you standing in front of me?"

"Brax, I can explain." Charlie pleaded.

Brax held up a hand. "Save it Charlie, you lied to us. You lied to me. You lied to your family."

"Brax, it wasn't that simple!" Charlie exclaimed, the tears making their way down her face.

"Oh yeah?" Brax asked. "We thought you were dead! We mourned for you! Your daughter hated me! She blamed me for your death!"

"You think that this was easy for me?" Charlie asked, her voice raising an octave. "It wasn't, Brax, it wasn't."

"Whatever Charlie, I've heard enough." Brax turned to walk away.

"Brax!" Charlie pleaded.

"Save it Charlie!" Came the response. Charlie sunk down onto her knees, breaking down. She knew that this would happen. There was that voice in her head the entire time since she wanted to come back to the bay, telling her that no-one was going to forgive her for what she had done. That voice was right, and Charlie's body heaved with sobs as she broke down.

^..^

"Bro, what's up with you?" Heath asked as Brax walked in through the front door, his surfboard under his arm. Heath was watching a footy game and was drinking a beer, but put the beer down and turned the TV off when he saw Brax.

"Charlie's alive." Was all that came out of Brax's mouth as he headed to the fridge to grab a beer. He sat down next to Heath and took a long swig.

Heath's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "That's not possible."

"It is possible," Came a voice at the door. "I saw her down at the diner."

"You saw her too?" Heath asked.

"Yeah, but you'll never believe what else I saw."

* * *

**Please review!**


End file.
